Windows 10 allows limited control over the transparency of the Taskbar, Action Center, and the Start menu. You can make it transparent or solid in Settings. It is a bit transparent by default, but you might want to add a higher level. Here’s a look at how to increase the transparency by hacking the Registry.

Note: This requires tweaking some values in the Registry and isn’t for the faint of heart. Before making any changes make sure to back up the Registry or create a Restore Point before making any changes. Also, you will need to have Administrator rights to change any of the registry key values.

From there, double click on EnableTransparency and change its value from 1 to 0 and click OK.

No restart is required. In fact, after changing the value to zero hit the Windows Key and you’ll see the difference. If you’re not a fan of the look just change the EnableTransparency key back to a value of one.

Here is what the default transparency looks like:

And here it is after changing the registry value — much more transparent:

Increase the Transparency of the Windows 10 Taskbar

If you want to change the transparency of the Taskbar, head to the following path in the Registry:

Now you need to create a new DWORD 32-bit value and name it UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency and give it a value of 1.

To force the change, go to Settings > Personalization > Colors and toggle the Make Start, taskbar and action center transparent switch off and back on again.

Here’s what it looks like by default:

And here is what to expect after making the changes to the Registry:

It would be nice to see a slider control in Settings that would allow you to fine-tune the transparency. Something like the slider for color temperature for the Night Light (formerly called Blue Light) feature in Windows 10 Creators Update.

Still, this is a cool trick to give a try if you like to have more control over how the Windows UI looks. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

6 Comments

6 Comments

Romkslrqusz

Seems that for me, I can’t use both tweaks at the same time.
Changing the enabletransparency key for me works the same way as toggling the switch.

Make that three having the problem of not being able to have both the taskbar and start menu using Organic LED Transparency at the same time. I tried both fixes and when I force one, the other reverts back.